Letzte Meldung! Harmonika-WM in Portoroz - Slowenien/Österreich

1. Nachwuchswettbewerb "Sound of Austria!" - Austria

Video: Biagio Antonacci with Accordion/Bandoneon Quartet - Italy

Video: Famous Italian singer Biagio Antonacci recently on the big stage of the Ariston Theater in San Remo, presented famous songs of his career, in a fresh arrangement with the accordionists Massimo Tagliata, Daniele Donadelli, Antonio Rimedio, Marco Fabbri (bandoneon) and Massimo Varini (guitar).

The Most Accordion Shaped Camper Ever - Netherlands

De Markis is a camper that unfolds like an accordion. Contemporary architect and design connoisseur, Eduard Böhtlingk, created this amazing mobile camper. His company, Architectenbureau Böhtlingk is located in Maasland, the Netherlands.

In the right situation, you can go fishing from the deck! It might even double as a portable concert stage with dressing rooms!!!

Featuring a bedroom with privacy canvas, a sitting room with transparent canvas for an excellent view, and an interior room with stove, sink, table, and multiple storage places, this camper is sure to meet your needs.

A concert titled "Gradam Ceoil TG4 – The Traditional Irish Music Awards 2015" took place at Cork Opera House on Sunday February 22nd at 9.30pm.

Gradam Ceoil TG4 returns to Cork after an absence of more than 10 years. The Traditional Irish Music Awards 2015 was broadcast live for the very first time ever from Cork Opera House on Sunday, February 22nd 2015.

Featuring the very best of Irish music and song, the night recognised the outstanding achievements of the 2015 recipients across six various strands of Irish Traditional Music. Dáithí Ó Sé and Aoife Ní Thuairisg presented the show and was joined on stage by a host of well known personalities.

The main award, Gradam Ceoil TG4 went to Galway virtuoso Máirtín O’Connor whose accordion-playing wizardry and range of compositions have been dazzling audiences for over thirty years.

The Lifetime Achievement Award went to legendary player Bobby Gardiner (picture right), a Clare native now exiled in Tipperary but well-known throughout the land for well over a half-century for his warm and gentle style of playing and teaching.

Flaco Jiménez Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Los Angeles – USA

by Diatonic News

Texas-based Flaco Jimenez has this week been presented with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in a ceremony at the Wilshire Ebel Theater in Los Angeles. Lifetime Awards also went to Jane Fonda, George Harrison, the Bee Gees, Buddy Guy, the Louvin Brothers and others.

His daughter, Raquel Fernandez, and her husband, Javier, and sons Leonard Jimenez Jr. and David Jimenez, with his wife, Lisa, accompanied Flaco to the ceremony on Saturday February 7th.

“From the moment we arrived, you could feel the excitement in the air,” said Raquel. “I could see the happiness in my dad’s eyes.” The happiest moment, she said, was hearing her father’s named called. “It was a very humble speech,” she added, “as he was mentioning and representing San Antonio and thanking all his fans and also thanking the Tejano and conjunto industry. We are extremely proud of him”.

Flaco Jimenez (born 1939) is to Tex-Mex music what Clifton Chenier was to Zydeco or Jimmy Shand was to Scottish dance music. Tex-Mex (aka Tejano, Conjunto or Norteno) is the accordion-driven folk music of the working class Americans of Mexican origin living in Texas.

Flaco and his accordionist brother Santiago (born 1944), the sons of accordionist and songwriter Santiago Jimenez (1913-84), were born into the Tex-Mex style, and both grew up knowing the tunes and songs of this Spanish-American rooted style.

Flaco and Santiago took up the diatonic button accordion early in life, and though Santiago has enjoyed a highly successful professional career in his own right, it was Flaco who became the genre’s best-known and most commercially successful performer worldwide.

24. German-Concertina-Meeting 2015 - Deutschland

Since the new venue was well accepted in 2014, the next meeting will take place again at seminar center “Seminarhof Drawehn”. By now the meeting could well be called “European Concertina Meeting”, as over the years there were visitors from Czech Republic, France, Holland, Belgium, Scottland, England, Denmark and SwedenWelcome are all players ( beginner to advanced ) of all concertina systems ( English, Anglo, Duett!!, Anglo-German, Deutsch ) with any style of music!

Video: Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Music Festival - USA

Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Music Festival featuring LA based Cajun band Feufollet. Filmed May 2014 and published on Nov 13, 2014.

Lafayette, LA based Cajun band Feufollet performing on the Cajun-Zydeco Stage of the 25th annual Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Music Festival held at the Rancho Santa Susana Community Park in Simi Valley, California, U.S.A. during the Memorial Day weekend.

Francisco el Hombre is a legendary figure, said to have originated the musical genre of Vallenato in Colombia. His story is very unclear and has been told by word of mouth from generation to generation.[edit] The StoryHis full name is Francisco Antonio Moscote. Francisco El Hombre is rumored to have gone around town to town in Colombia spreading news through the art of song. Not only did he sing the news, but he did it to the rhythm of an accordion that he always played whilst singing. This is how the genre of Vallenato in Colombia came to be. The exact era of his appearances is not known but it is rumored to have started around the late 1870s and early 1880s. Another MythThere is also a myth in Colombia where he was involved in a musical contest with Satan "El Diablo" and beat him with the rhythm of accordion and his voice. This is how he received the nickname "El Hombre" (The Man), which is how most Colombians know him - Francisco El Hombre. This myth also shows Colombia's strong Christian roots that have been integrated into everyday culture.

Alex Meixner Band Gigs, Texas – USA

by Diatonic News

Above: Promotional video.

The Alex Meixner Band performs three times in Texas this weekend. These are at the SPJST Hall in Houston, (for a lucky dance night on Friday the 13th) and the KJT Hall in Ennis (for the Sweetheart Soiree on Saturday February 14th), as well as the 3rd Annual Fat Tuesday show at the Brauntex Theatre in New Braunfels on Tuesday Feb 17th.

In between all of that, the schedule is packed full of recording sessions! (Alex has at least 2 projects that will be released in 2015 - no rest happening on this front!)

Aleksandar Nikolic (bandoneon and accordion) is musical director and accordion and bandoneon player of the Beltango quintet, one of the worlds best-known tango groups, which has performed more than 500 concerts in 25 different countries.

Aleksandar Nikolic is also the President of Belgrade Accordion Association and Artistic Director of the Belgrade Tango Festival.

Petar Maric (accordion) is recognised as one of the finest young accordionists having won Coupe Mondiale categories for classical, virtuoso and electronic music and is a performer of many different musical styles.

These two superbly talented players with the unique combination of bandoneon and accordion and the special collaboration between professor and student show an abundance of tango repertoire and superb musicianship.

Mazaika International Women's Day Concert, London - UK

The duo Mazaika – Igor Outkine (midi accordion, vocals) and Elizabeth Harrison (violin, domra, vocals) – perform at a party to celebrate International Women's Day on Sunday March 8th, 8pm until 11pm, at Tito’s Peruvian restaurant (basement), 4-6 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9SG. Tickets: £15 on the door, £10 in advance.

Mazaika perform Russian folk and Gypsy music, tango and gypsy swing, romantic songs from Italy and Cuba, and international party pop hits.

New CD: ‘Luke Daniels - Tribute To William Hannah’, Scotland – UK

by Diatonic News

Luke Daniels - Tribute To William Hannah’ is a new CD, paying tribute to the pre-war button accordionists William Hannah (picture right) and delivered in style by Luke Daniels, present day winner of the BBC Young Tradition Award.

William Hannah is credited with being the first to form a Scottish dance band in about 1920, and as such was a major influence on post-war band leaders such as Jimmy Shand, Bobby MacLeod, Jim Cameron, etc. William Hannah recorded about 100 tracks, and also composed many pieces that found their way into the standard Scottish dance music repertoire of today.

For this CD, four of the UK's finest traditional players, Luke Daniels (melodeon), Neil Ewart (fiddle), Ian Carr (guitar), John Paul Gandy (piano), have come together to recreate Hannah's exciting music and playing.

A Wilkinson Excelsior circa 1927 (Hannah's own signature instrument) was restored specially and played on this recording along with an earlier model used by Daniel and Peter Wyper circa 1909.

William Hannah (1891 - 1961) was born in the mining town of Blackburn, West Lothian. Having started on the harmonica organ as a boy he moved on to the diatonic 2-row button accordion by the First World War, during which he served in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.

His role in the development of the modern accordion was an important one. William Hannah was a creative recording artist, with companies such as Parlophone and Columbia, and a celebrated band leader in the 1920s and 30s.

Video: Frédéric Langlais Tango Quintet Performs Calambre - France

by Diatonic News

Fred Langlais Tango Quintet Performing Calambre by Astor Piazzolla at the Concert in the courtyard of the Hotel de Ville Angouleme on the occasion of the famous "Mardis Muziks.". Published on Oct 10, 2014